Paper towel dispensers are either dispensers that dispense individual paper towels from a roll, and dispensers that dispense paper towels from a folded stack of paper towels. The latter type of dispensers typically include a cabinet that is mounted on a wall at a height that allows dispensing of paper towels to a person standing next to the cabinet. A stack of paper towels is placed in the cabinet such that the stack is oriented vertically inside the cabinet. An opening at the bottom of the cabinet provides access to a paper towel at the bottom of the stack. Paper towels can be manually pulled out of the stack through the opening. The paper towels are folded on top of the each other to form the stack. The fold pattern can be a single-fold, C-fold or multi-fold. The opening is typically an oblong slot having a large center area in order to accommodate various fold configurations and sizes of paper towels.
The above-described paper towel dispensers have several problems associated with the dispensing of paper towels through the opening. When the height of the stack of paper towels is large, the weight of the stack may cause a bloating of the paper towels at the opening such that a cluster of paper towels are exposed. The bloating may also be caused when the bottom opening does not correspond with the size of paper towels being dispensed from the cabinet. The bloating may allow a user to pull out several paper towels at a time and waste paper towels. The bloating may also cause tearing of paper towels when a user is attempting to pull single paper towels from the stack. In addition to the noted functional disadvantages, bloating of paper towels at the opening is not aesthetically pleasing. When the stack of paper towels is low or almost depleted, the remaining paper towels in the stack may fall out of the opening. When the stack of paper towels is high, the paper towels can tear when being pulled out of the opening because of the friction between the paper towel being pulled out and the bottom of the cabinet at the opening. The tearing of the paper towels is particularly problematic when recycled paper towels are used or when a user's hands are wet.
The above-described paper towel dispensers also have a problem associated with the replacement and/or refilling of the paper towel stack. In order to refill the cabinet with paper towels, the face of the cabinet is hinged on one side in order to function as a door. The door can be swung open, thereby allowing a maintenance person to place one or more stacks of paper towels in the cabinet. The paper towel stack typically rests against the back wall of the cabinet. However, depending on the height of the stack, a possibly slight stagger in the paper towels in the stack, and/or the curvature of the paper towel tray, the paper towels may rest against the door of the cabinet. Accordingly, the paper towels can fall out of the cabinet when a maintenance person opens the door to replace the stack or refill the cabinet with one or more stacks of paper towels.
In view of the above, there is a need for a paper towel cabinet or a module for existing paper towel cabinets that can remedy one or more of the above described problems associated with current paper towel dispensers.